My Journey Home commences with the author’s childhood during the Holocaust in Hungary, when almost 500,000 of the resident Jews were deported and killed in Auschwitz. In Budapest, about 150,000 survived the German occupation as well as the dictatorship of the Hungarian National Socialists, which took over the power in October 1944: Ozsváth’s family belonged among those who lived. The author describes their life after the war in Communist-ruled Hungary, and her flight, together with her husband, to Germany and later to the USA. Ozsváth’s poignant story of survival, friendship, and love provides readers with a rare first-hand account of her extraordinary journey.

Zsuzsanna Ozsváth is Professor of Literary Studies and the History of Ideas and Leah and Paul Lewis Chair of Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. She has published a number of books and articles in literary studies and on the Holocaust. She also studies and teaches the conflicts arising between the Holocaust and our notions of art, beauty, and morality.

Praise

A sequel to her masterful memoir When the Danube Ran Red, Zsuzsanna Ozsváth’s My Journey Home is a beautifully crafted love story brilliantly interwoven with the high drama of post-Holocaust history. Like fellow travelers, we join Zsuzsi and Pista on their journey from the horror of the Nazis to the terror of the Communists, then through Germany and on to America. We are enthralled by her art, as each page brims with poetry and pathos. My Journey Home is truly a literary masterpiece of the highest order.

— David Patterson, Hillel A. Fevinberg Chair in Holocaust Studies, University of Texas at Dallas

Table of Contents

Foreword1. Spring Meeting2. Promise of the Night3. Encountering Pista4. In the Garden5. The First Visit6. The Rise of Terror7. Fear8. Hunger9. The Wedding10. Shadows and Light11. The Railed Cot12. Quiet Happiness13. Under Terror14. Living for the Moment15. Playmates16. Dangerous Winds17. Deportations18. A Decision19. Voyage to the East20. New Circumstances21. Across the Border22. New Life23. Waiting for a Miracle24. Hamburg25. First Steps26. Crisis27. Major Changes28. New Life29. A Terrible Event30. Becoming Parents31. Pleasure and Grief32. At Home33. Teaching and Fulfillment34. Past and Present35. Threats36. The Crush of the World37. Life with and without Pista